Price of Dawn (Hint:Chaos)
by tardisbluetrenchcoat
Summary: Percy, separated during a quest, returns to Camp Half-Blood to only find that it has mysteriously disappeared, along with the rest of his family. A figure known as Chaos appears, offering him a chance to find his family and friends again in exchange for ten years of his service.
1. Chapter 1

Three shall go south

And be separated by fate

Two shall go on and rescue it late

One shall travel north and be offered a choice

Only to despair and be offered a choice

* * *

Chapter 1

_Fate. How stupid_, Percy thought. He wanted to scream. He _knew_ something bad was going to happen, that he couldn't just get a break. And just by luck, well, maybe it wasn't luck, because those things had happened so many times that Percy had stopped believing that it was bad luck a long time ago, he was separated from Annabeth and Nico.

The room Percy was in was completely dark. He stood up slowly, his hands grasping, or trying to grasp, the wall he was surrounded by, which felt oddly like glass. He carefully uncapped Riptide, and the soft glow of the blade lit up the room around him. Except that it wasn't a room, but rather, a corridor. And the walls that felt like glass were mirrors. A maze.

Percy made a quick decision; he swung Riptide, waiting for the shattering of glass. It never came. Instead, Riptide bounced off, as if it bounced off rubber. Except that if it were rubber, it would've been cut through. That left one way out. With a sigh, Percy started his long trek out of the maze of mirrors.

No matter which way he turned, he never saw the hint of sunlight. It occurred to Percy that it could be magic transporting him back to the same place again and again, but Percy pushed that thought out of his mind.

Minutes passed by, maybe even hours. Percy didn't know. But he knew that time traveled faster in magical places. He only hoped that weeks haven't passed in the outside world.

Percy twisted and turned faster than before, the hope of seeing Annabeth driving him forward. Finally he started to see light leaking through somewhere. Light that wasn't through Riptide. Excited, he sprinted towards the light as fast as he could. He shot out of the opening, his momentum pulling him forward and causing him to fall down the hill he had just emerged from.

Percy stopped rolling when he crashed against the base of a sign. It read: Brie, Kentucky, 2 miles north.

"Cheese," mumbled Percy, before jumping up, eyes open. "Kentucky?"

Percy cursed in ancient Greek. He should've been in Virginia with Annabeth and Nico. Not Kentucky. Then he remembered the prophecy:

Three shall go south

_Annabeth, Nico, me. Check. Check. Check._

And be separated by fate.

_Well, fate sure sucked._

Two shall go on and rescue it late.

_Definitely Annabeth and Nico. Annabeth would want to look for me. But she wouldn't find me. Not in Kentucky._

One shall travel north and be offered a choice.

_Travel where?_ Percy thought. _A choice?_

The last line scared Percy the most.

Only to despair with no rejoice.

Percy didn't want to think about the last line too much. He thought about the fourth line instead. He looked at the sign next to him. Brie, Kentucky. A good place to start.

Percy reached in his pocket, hoping for at least one drachma. He pulled out twenty bucks and one drachma. Triumphant, he held it up.

Percy walked the two miles to Brie, and to his disappointment, it was not famous for their Brie cheese, let alone any cheese.

Locking himself in the bathroom of Brie, he unlocked the small windows in the dinky bathroom. Turning on the faucet, he created a faint, but useable rainbow.

"Fleecy, do me a solid. Give me Annabeth Chase." Percy tossed in the drachma.

The drachma fell through. Confused he tried again. Still, it did not work. It clanged on the hard metal, water rushing around it.

He couldn't contact Annabeth, and he bet that Annabeth couldn't contact Percy. But he didn't know why. He tried again, instead choosing to IM Chiron. Nothing. Not even a 'sorry, we're busy.'

There was only one thing to do. If he couldn't meet up with Annabeth and Nico, he would head back to camp.

Percy started the long, arduous journey back to New York. He stole food from stores, 'borrowed' cars from strangers. Slept in questionable places when he was tired. Percy was always on guard for monsters. But they never came. Not a single one.

New York was as exactly as Percy remembered it. Noisy, busy, crowded. But Percy felt that something was off.

Percy finally climbed Half-Blood hill, the beginning point of camp. But camp wasn't there. Not the Big House, not the cabins, not even the archery field, where Percy had accidently shot an arrow in Chiron's tail. Everything was gone, and there was no trace that anything had ever been there. Even Thalia's pine was gone.

Percy ran down to where the Big House should've been. He turned around and around, searching for the bit of evidence that proved he wasn't crazy. He knew where camp was. And yet, it wasn't there.

"Perseus Jackson."

In a flash, Percy had Riptide out, pointing at the stranger's face, which was covered by a dark cloak.

"Yeah?" Percy raised his eyebrows. "And who are you?"

"Chaos. Creator of all."

Percy snorted, rolling his eyes. "I doubt that, buddy. I know how the story goes. Gaea and Ouranos liked each other in the way immortals do, and eventually they upped their relationaship-"

"And who created them?"

The stranger had a point. Percy didn't know how to answer his question. He looked more closely at the stranger. He had an aura around him, much like the Gods', but stronger. It was also a dark aura that surrounded him, but not the same as Hades's aura. Percy didn't know how to make of it.

"Say I do believe you," Percy said carefully, "why are you here?"

"Your friends, your camp, are gone. I believe I know why."

Percy finally lowered his sword and concentrated on Chaos. "I'm listening."

"You are in the wrong universe."

"WRONG UNIVERSE?!" Percy shouted.

Chaos raised his hand, and noise ceased to emerge from Percy's mouth, no matter how hard he tried.

"I suspect foul play. I have no idea who, and why they would make their move against you. But they have made their move, so I shall make mine."

Chaos paused. "You were moved into another universe. And I believe that your family and friends have been moved into a similar universe to theirs, so not to arouse suspicion, but hidden so I can not find them."

"What do you want?" Percy asked, finally regaining his voice. "There is always a price."

"Ten years," Chaos said. "I want ten years of your service. Join me and I will find your family and friends."

Percy took a deep breath. He knew he had no better options. Ten years or never.

"Alright," Percy said, squaring his shoulders. "Ten years, starting now."

Chaos held out his hand, and Percy hesitantly reached out and grasped it. Immediately they landed on another place, and Percy would soon learn, another universe.

Percy thought that the place would make a nice space resort if it got a nice make over, from all the drab gray, black, and brown. The sky was black, as if it were night, and Percy could see different planets and stars that he could never see from the smoke filled skies of New York.

"Sooo…" Percy said, drawing out the o's. Where are we?"

"A universe I created," Chaos replied swiftly. "I needed a secure base."

"So you just created another univserse?"

"That is correct."

Chaos turned to Percy. "Someone will come by and fill you in. I must go. I wish you luck, Perseus Jackson."

With those words, he was gone.

"Well, thanks," Percy said to the open air.

No less than five seconds later, Percy heard footsteps approaching. Once the figure came close enough, Percy could see that it was a man, maybe eighteen, nineteen years old.

"Hey," the stranger said, flashing a smile. "Newbie."

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Jack Newmon, nice to meet you. C'mon this way, I'll show you around."

Jack showed Percy the dining hall, the barracks, and conference rooms for mission debriefs, courtyards, training rooms, airfields, and teleport holdings.

"Everyday before breakfast, you have to get your schedule stamped on your arm at mission control. There's one near every barrack, and basically every corridor, so you don't have to wait long."

Percy nodded. "So as a newbie, what do I do?"

"You get assigned to an army, and have a commander. They're responsible for you, so you do what they say. You take classes, pay attention, train. Then you have a final exam."

"Final exam?"

"A simulated test placing your fears against you," Jack put it simply. "Then you get assigned to a new barrack and run missions until your service time is up."

Jack and Percy reached a door labeled Green Army.

_Not very creative, _Percy thought.

"This is your army. If your good enough, you'll be moved up through ranks before you 'graduate.'"

Percy nodded and they shook hands before Jack turned around and walked away, leaving Percy at the door.

Percy took a deep breath and slowly opened the door. He walked in, standing awkwardly at the doorway. He didn't know what he was expecting. Shouting matches? Drills? Whatever he was expecting, inside was way different. Soldiers, dressed in black uniforms with green accentuation, were talking noisily, or playing card games on their bunks. Finally, one soldier noticed Percy standing by the door.

"Hey Prickett! Get your butt over here!" The soldier called.

A man in his early twenties got up from the bunk he was sitting in and made his way to Percy.

"It's 'get your butt over here' _Commander_," Prickett shot back good-naturedly. The soldier saluted lazily before turning back to his card game.

He turned to Percy. "Desmond Prickett, Commander of Green Army. It's nice to have a new addition."

Percy offered a small smile before shaking Prickett's hand. "Percy, Percy Jackson."

"Well then Percy, it's time to get you a bunk."

Prickett led Percy to the back of the room. The beds were bunk beds, similar to the ones at camp. Prickett gestured to the empty bunk on the bottom row.

"That's the only free one. Next to it, you have a locker with your uniform, tab, and anything else you want to keep in it. Everyone is required to change into uniform in the morning. You can also set a username and password for the locker. No using the tab after lights out."

Sensing Percy's confusion, he elaborated. "A tab has games and other stuff."

"Like an Ipod," Percy murmured.

"Sure, whatever that is. Anyways, after you change, you need to get your schedule stamped on your arm. The nearest mission control is in the left corridor. If you need help, ask anyone here, got it?"

Percy nodded. Someone shouted for Prickett and he turned away, but not before giving a small smile before turning away.

Percy fiddled with his locker, setting both his username and password as 'Annabeth'. He toyed with his tab for what he thought was half-an-hour, (the time on the tab said it was Delta-Apple-Squared, whatever that meant) before Prickett called lights out. The last thing on his mind when he fell asleep was the long ten years ahead of him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians**

* * *

"RISE AND SHINE SCHLEMIELS!"

The voice woke Percy up from his dream, where he was in this space bunker place thing- _oh right, _he thought, _it wasn't a dream. _ He shook off the sleepiness from his head and sat up on his bed. He looked around; everyone was changing into their uniforms and running around. He waited on his bed for someone to give him instructions- not that, you know, he was good at following them.

"Hey," a voice said above him, "Jeremiah from Omega Three. You the newbie?"

_Vitamin? _Percy's mind asked.

"Um, yeah?" he said instead, with a questioning tone in his voice.

Jeremiah flashed a smile. "Great, I'll help you out. First thing first, uniforms."

Percy nodded his head in thanks. After he changed into the black and green uniforms, he went to get his schedule stamped on his arm. It was a faint purple color, like the ultra-violet kind. To Percy, mission control wasn't like the mission control they showed on TV. It resembled an ATM machine more.

Percy finally found his way to the food hall after minutes of wandering through corridors and following signs. He received pasta looking food that was from the planet Trenzalore. In all actuality, the food did not taste like pasta, but was still quite good.

"Newbie from Green Army!" Jeremiah's familiar voice rang out through out the chatter of the food hall.

Jeremiah was surround by a group of people, some of which Percy could tell were not human.

Percy moved his way through the crowd and sat down next to a boy who seemed relatively 'normal' by human standards, but Percy had a slight supernatural suspicion.

"Seems like you made it to morning food, eh Percy?"

"Morning food? Don't you mean breakfast?"

The boy Percy sat next to answered for Jeremiah. "Same thing, really. There are translators everywhere here. On walls, under tables, even in the showers," he wiggled his eyebrows at that one, "it's so we can all communicate. Thousands of universes, you don't really think we all speak the same language, do you?"

Percy grinned bashfully, "I hadn't really thought about it that much. But now I know that was the whole 'schlemiels' thing this morning."

"Yeah, Prickett sprouts off al the time with weird words, but most of the time we can understand him."

"So Percy, " the girl with the blue-ish tint to her skin said, "What universe are you from?"

"Um, the one with Earth?"

The whole table erupted in laughter.

"Give him time," the boy next to him said, vouching for Percy. "We all didn't know either when we got here." He faced Percy. "Maxon."

Continuing on, he answered Percy's unasked question. "Universe Republic. We had an Earth, too. That's where I'm from. San Francisco."

Percy grinned. "I'm a New Yorker myself. I've been to San Francisco once, but I didn't have much time to admire the view."

Maxon grinned back, and Percy was glad that he made a new friend, besides Jeremiah.

More names were tossed around the table. Florentine from Universe Hakol, Demos Col form Universe Carsus. The amount of different universes and people made Percy's head hurt.

Percy scarfed down his breakfast quickly, and unlike camp where he would have seconds, he was instantly full after the first serving. The group around him talked aimlessly, much like the Hermes Cabin. Finally, a loud bell rang throughout the hall, signaling the end of breakfast. Trays were deposited into the trash, but Percy had no idea where to go next.

Luckily for him, Jeremiah grabbed his arm.

"Seems, you have Codes first. Maxon can take you there."

Maxon grabbed Percy's arm and navigated through the crowds, twisting and turning through corridors until they reached a room marked 'Codes.'"

The room inside seemed much more like the space mission control that Percy had imagined. The desks were all connected with touch screens installed in them. All the desks were facing the front, where an image was being projected from an invisible projector.

Maxon and Percy took seats near the back and waited for the room to fill up.

Unable to sit still, Percy tapped on the touch screen. Immediately, his fingerprints were scanned and his name popped up on the top of the desk: Perseus Jackson, Delta Oeuf.

_A space name tag,_ Percy thought.

Maxon quietly nudged Percy. "See that?"

Maxon pointed to the words next to his name. "That's your universe. Delta Oeuf. You know in French, Oeuf means 'egg.'"

"So, I'm from the egg universe?" Percy said, confused.

Maxon rolled his eyes. "Not really. It's only called that because the universe is kinda oval-ish shaped."

There conversation was cut short when another figure walked into the room. Her very presence commanded quiet. _The instructor, _Percy guessed.

Once she reached the center of the room, she began her spiel.

"Codes. Necessary for running missions. No agent is allowed to go into the field without passing this course, and not understanding the basic of codes. From code names to cracking safes- or rather, to those in a ditch attempt, blowing up safes, this class will go over all types of codes. This class with aide you…"

Percy couldn't help it. He mind wandered elsewhere. Annabeth, food, Annabeth.

He jumped a little in his seat when the intructor placed her hand on his desk.

"Perseus, during missions, comm units are unreliable. Code names are needed. Sometimes, even on the spot. Create one now."

Percy racked his brain for code names. Poseidon? Aquaman? Percy was nervous, especially with the instructor's intense gaze. He blurted out the first thing that came to his mind.

"Supreme Lord of the Bathroom?"

As soon as that came out of his mouth, he regretted it. Next to him, Maxon covered his mouth with his hand, stifling his laughter.

Saying the first thing that came to his mind was not a good idea for Percy.

The instructor's mouth tightened into a thin line, though Percy swore he saw it twitch a little.

"That's a bit long Perseus," she said, before turning to another student.

Percy let out a breath he hadn't known that he was holding. Honestly, he thought he was going to get in a lot more trouble than that. It seems like Space School wasn't as strict as Goode when it came to certain things.

For the rest of 'class', there were no more mishaps from Percy.

The rest of the day went well for Percy, and he munched on his lunch quietly, while Maxon and the other people he had classes with recounted the hilarious moments Percy had caused.

Percy was so ready for the last class of the day. He had survived through Intergalactic Battle Formations and Mission Strategies, something that Percy knew Annabeth would've loved. Percy got through Disguise and Pretence with only one nap, something that Percy was proud of. However, he fell asleep two times during the Art of Lying.

He arrived at a separated building just for 'Physical Manuvers.' Not as classy sounding as P.E, but Percy figured that he would get more physical education here than he would get at any mortal military school.

When he entered through the double doors of the training room, about twenty other people had already arrived, stretching or talking amongst each other. To the left of him, weights of all different sizes were hanging on the wall while there was a rock-climbing wall to the fall side of the building.

Mats took up most of the floor area and a wall of weapons took up an entire wall space.

Percy walked down the aisle in between the mats and wall, stopping when he reached all the other people. He stared awkwardly at his feet before the loud speaker interrupted all the conversation.

"Spar with partners. No maiming,"

Percy's heart sank. There was no way he would have a partner unless some person decided to have mercy on the poor kid standing in middle of the aisle.

Percy felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning around, a girl, maybe a few years older than him, smiled.

"Anna. Want to spar? I've been needing to brush up on sword skills lately."

"Doubt it," a guy standing near them mumbled.

Ignoring the guy, Percy hesitantly accepted.

"Great," she said, flashing another smile. "I'll go chose a sword."

When her back was turned, Percy switched his attention to the guy who mumbled earlier.

"Why'd you say 'doubt it' earlier?"

The guy rolled his eyes. "She's the best. Don't know why they haven't graduated yet."

He patted Percy on the back. "Good luck."

_Huh, _Percy thought. _So this is the equivalent of Luke._

Anna reappeared next to him, holding a long, sharp edged sword. There was no doubt that it could maim, never mind kill.

"I see you haven't moved from your spot," she commented. "In shock, or you just don't know what to pick?"

"Neither," Percy said, pulling out Riptide. "Already got one."

He uncapped Riptide, and Anna's eyes widened, seeing the blade in its three feet glory.

"Well." She said, masking her surprise quickly. "That's a different kind of tech."

Percy smiled inwardly. _Yeah, Greek magic._

Percy and Anna took their places on the mat, and the pairings around the paused their own fights to see how well the newbie could hold.

"Ready?"

Percy nodded in response.

She swung.

Percy had to admit, she was good. Very good. But he knew he was better. At least, better at sword fighting. If they were doing archery, she would have definitely beaten him.

He parried and in turn, swung at her, putting him on the offense and her on the defense. They carried on like that for a few seconds, switching back and forth on the offense and defense. The deflected blows and faking hits, drawing in the remaining pairs around them. In the back of his mind, Percy could feel the vague feeling of nostalgia, from when he first fought against Luke.

His old mentor, Luke, whispered suggestions in Percy's mind. _Duck! Swing! Hit!_

Finally, Percy saw an opening in Anna's defense. He swung down on her sword hilt, the same move Luke taught him years ago.

Anna's sword clanged to the floor, but the fight wasn't over just yet. In a flash, she ducked, rolled and grabbed her sword, and jumped back onto her feet.

She smiled, a bit out of breath. "Nice one. Where'd you learn that move? Never mind that. Where'd you learn all your moves?"

Percy smiled back slightly. Unlike Anna, he was still going strong. "Nowhere you've been."

She studied him for a few seconds before lowering her sword.

She stuck out her hand. "Stalemate?"

Percy looked at her questionably. "No tricks."

"No tricks," she promised.

Percy lowered his sword and grabbed her hand. "Stalemate."

She smiled.

Then she judo flipped him onto the mat and stood up.

"Now it's stalemate."

Percy sat up, rubbing his head. "Cheater," he mumbled.

Anna turned her back on Percy, walking back to the wall of weapons.

"There's no such thing as cheating in a fight. You use what you have in a fight and you use it well."

* * *

A/N: Hi, just to clarify, this story is Percy/Annabeth pairing. If you've read the books, you should be able to identify which characters are OC and which are not. It should be easy, Percy's the only one so far.


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